Outsiders Pt 1
by afaithfulwriter890
Summary: A new kind of SkyClan story. Swiftleaf, Turtlestorm and Spottedfur are trying to figure out the secret of their mother's past when some startling events begin unfold in their Clan. Can they find out the truth?
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors!**

**I didn't know where to put the allegiances, so I put them here. Prologue is at the bottom!**

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><p><strong>Allegiances<strong>

**SkyClan**

LEADER: Crescentstar- once-beautiful cream-colored she-cat

DEPUTY: Stripeclaw- brown tabby tom with amber eyes

APPRENTICE; Spiderpaw

MEDICINE CAT: Pawstep- small pinkish-brown she-cat with innocent amber eyes

APPRENTICE; Ravenclaw

WARRIORS: (toms and she-cats without kits)

Climbingpelt- small white she-cat with green eyes

APPRENTICE; Leafpaw

Airtail- light gray she-cat with a white underbelly and paws

Breezemoon- small black tomcat with green eyes

APPRENTICE; Kelppaw

Baderleg - a small pale gray tomcat

Mouseclaw- tortoiseshell tom

APPRENTICE; Pebblepaw

Sunblaze- ginger tomcat

Vineclaw- brown tabby tom with white paws

Aspenleaf- light brown tabby she-cat with amber eyes

APPRENITCE; Marshpaw

Slashpelt- longhaired, solid gray tom with green eyes

Icepool- pure white she-cat with blue eyes; deaf in one ear

APPRENTICE; Frecklepaw

Bramblefrost- solid brown tomcat

Streamfeather- silvery tabby she-cat with pretty blue eyes

Wolfpelt- gray tomcat with bright amber eyes and one white paw

Waspwing- ginger she-cat with a scar on her right eye from a training accident

Swoopwhisker- ginger tabby tomcat with bright green eyes

Swiftleaf- cream-colored she-cat with one blue, and one green eye

Turtlestorm- black longhaired tom with ghostly-looked pale yellow eyes

Spottedfur- pale gray (with darker flecks) tom with sky-blue eyes

APPRENTICES:

Spiderpaw- jet-black tom with a white dash on his chest

Pebblepaw- pale gray she-cat with a pinkish tint in her fur and amber eyes

Marshpaw- dark mottled brown tom with dark emerald eyes

Leafpaw- pretty dark tortoiseshell she-cat with amber eyes

Kelppaw- brown tabby tom

Frecklepaw- white she-cat with darker flecks and blue eyes

Ravenclaw- black tomcat with a white dash on his chest

QUEENS: (she-cats expecting or nursing kits)

Darksky- dark ginger, almost brown she-cat with blue eyes; mother of Slashpelt's kits: Eaglekit (ginger tom) and Fallingkit (white she-cat with black paws)

Fireblaze- fiery orange she-cat with amber eyes; mother of Breezemoon's kits: Cedarkit (dark gray tomcat), Briarkit (dark brown tabby she-kit), Ashkit (pale gray she-kit), Skykit (white she-kit)

Emberclaw- pretty ginger she-cat with emerald eyes; mother of Badgerleg's kits

Blossomfur- pretty tortoiseshell she-cat; mother of Vineclaw's kits

ELDERS:

Whitefur- longhaired white tom

Darrin- light brown tabby tom with white paws and tail

Candy- small creamy white she-cat

Jaguarclaw- unusually spotted golden tabby tom with black spots on his ears, eyes and the rest of his body

Faithfulheart- beautiful light gray she-cat with blue eyes

**Cats Outside the Clans**

Fury- black tom with flecks of red and ginger in his fur

Frost- elderly pure white she-cat with blue eyes

Red- medium longhaired russet-colored tomcat with amber eyes

Glow- pretty longhaired pale cream, almost white she-cat with green eyes

Dawn- sandy-brown she-cat with vibrant green eyes

Ghost- ghostly white tomcat with a long fang on the left side and a v-shaped ear

Water- pale gray she-cat with ice-blue eyes

Pea- small pinkish-cream-colored she-cat with violet eyes

Raccoon- gray tom with dark, black stripes and a mask-like coloration on his face and pale yellow eyes

Clover- pretty dark tortoiseshell she-cat with pretty green eyes

Watson- older brown tabby tom with green eyes

Snake- jet-black tom with green eyes

Blaze- bright ginger tom with amber eyes and one white paw

Mabel- pretty ginger kittypet that lives in a house near SkyClan territory

Wanda- pale gray, almost white she-cat with green eyes; lives next door to Mabel

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><p><strong>Prologue<strong>

On a rocky outcrop overlooking a gorge, a longhaired russet-colored tomcat sat, his tail curled neatly around his paws. The wind ruffled his long, ginger fur. He let his amber eyes wander around the bottom of the gorge. On a path that led up the rock face, dens were scattered about. Shooting a quick glance to his left, he saw some of the lichen that covered the entrance of the warriors' den. He'd been to the camp so many times before, but tonight, he was there for a meeting.

He smelled his acquaintance before he saw him. The breeze from the woods was blowing toward him. For a fleeting moment, he thought the Clan cats would be able to smell their scents, but they were just far enough away to get away with it. He rose to his paws and turned to face a black tom. The moonlight shone down on his pelt, making the few ginger flecks that were splattered amongst it visible.

The russet tom dipped his head formally in greeting. "For a while I thought you stood me up," he confessed, his amber eyes searching the tom's beady gaze.

"I wouldn't dare to stand you up, Red," the tom replied tartly, his voice thick with sarcasm.

Red flattened his ears against his head and narrowed his eyes. Restraining himself from letting out a hiss, he cleared his throat and sat down. "I think it would be more comfortable for both of us if you sit."

"I'd rather stand."

"Very well," Red sighed, his ears flattening once more. "Why have you called me here, Fury?" he demanded, his own amber eyes blazing with annoyance. "I was summoned her by that elderly friend of yours saying you had something 'worthwhile' to say to me. And it better be just that!"

Fury's lips curled at the edges. "Believe me, it is."

Red hissed. "Well then, get on with it!" he snarled. He flexed his claws hotly as the black tom began to circle him. Red noticed that Fury's claws were also unsheathed. The silver moonlight made them glint in the darkness. Fury's amber eyes illuminated his face in a ghostly manner.

"I assume you've heard of a Clan called SkyClan," Fury began, his whiskers twitching.

Red snarled in rage. "Of course I've heard of them! For the Creator's sake we're sitting outside their camp at the very moment! Why are you being so vague? This is so unlike you!"

Fury chuckled at his acquaintance's irritation. "I have something to show you. Come."

Red narrowed his eyes in suspicion, but rose to his paws. Fury led him into the small wooded area that separated SkyClan from the Twolegplace. Fury led him in the opposite direction of the russet cat's home. Red knew this territory well, but this particular area seemed so alien to him. When they neared the old Twoleg barn where a colony of rats used to live in, Red stopped.

The tomcat hissed and took a step back, flattening his ears against his head. Grass crunched under his paws. It was drier here, and between the forest and old barn, a large wire fence stood as a barrier. Despite the fence, Red still was dubious. He knew just how well rats would be able to climb through those spaces. The stench of rats was quite stale, but some still lingered in the air, making the tom cough.

Fury turned to face him, his own nose wrinkled in disgust. "What in the name of the spirits are you waiting for?" he demanded.

Red growled. "What about the rats? Are we going into this forsaken barn?"

Fury rolled his eyes. "Would I take you all this way to show you a barn?" Fury asked, sarcasm again think in his voice.

Red felt a growl rise in his throat. "Knowing you, I think you would."  
>Fury let out a false chuckle and turned away. "Come on, you mouse-heart. The rats are gone, and our destination is past this anyway!"<p>

Red grumbled under his breath and followed Fury as he led the way around the barn and further along the gorge. Red could see the outside of the edge of the canyon in the distance as Fury led him farther and farther from the barn. Red began to grow more and more dubious, the more distance they got from his usual romping grounds.

Fury paused when they were a good half a sky-length from the decrepit old barn. He took a deep breath and turned to his russet-furred companion. "What I am about to show you, must remain a secret. Tell anyone of this until it is time to do so, and I will slit your throat," Fury warned, darkly.

Red looked at him, bewildered. "What… what exactly are you going to show me?" he inquired, his hackles rising in fear. The more fear-scent oozed into Red's fragrance, the smugger Fury became.

"A whole 'nother world," the black tomcat purred. With that, the lithe black tom slunk under an elder berry bush and disappeared into a hole in the ground.

Red's eyes widened in surprise and followed. He shrugged a branch of the annoying bush out of the way with his shoulder and stared down into the darkness. The hole looked big enough for himself to fit a medium-sized dog, but fear still gripped Red's heart. He was worried that it would lead into a tunnel, which he knew it would. He always hated tunnels—always fretting they would collapse and he would be trapped inside. He worried that he would get lost underground in a labyrinth and never finds his way out.

Fury's amber eyes appeared from the darkness. "Coming?"

Red gulped, his ears flattening against his head as he, too entered the hole.

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><p>AN: This is my Warriors SkyClan FanFic. It's about the future generations of SkyClan. To understand everything, you might want to read my other stories about this particular topic. They are on a website called: .com

They're entitled "Rogue" and "Loners" and they're by Skyfall, AKA me.


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors! **

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><p><strong>Chapter One<strong>

**S**unlight filtered from a hole in the lichen that draped over the entrance of the warriors' den_._ Swiftleaf lay in her nest, on the outside of the huddle, toward the exit. The newer warriors were always on the outside of the clump of cats, the senior warriors taking the warmth in the middle. She peeked through her half-closed eyelids, her tail curled up and around her nose.

Flicking her tail away from his face, she raised her head and glanced around the warriors' den. Her father, Stripeclaw, was nowhere to be seen, but she could pick out her mother's light brown tabby pelt in the mass of cats, huddled together.

Blinking her eyes, she slid away carefully from her brother huddled beside her. Her brother's flecked gray fur was slicked against his fur from a late-night grooming he probably gave himself. Spottedfur always enjoyed having a nice, clean pelt. He'd clean it whenever he had time, even if he got up in the middle of the night to make dirt.

Twitching her whiskers in amusement, Swiftleaf slipped silently out of the warriors' den and out onto the rocky path that led down into camp. She could see the small kit-sized figures that were her Clanmates gathered around a clump of rocks near the medicine cat den. Stripeclaw was in the center of a small group of cats, organizing patrols.

Swiftleaf began to pad down, accidently disturbing some pebbles that were scattered along the rocky path. She tried to be extra quiet as the sun was peeking over the horizon. She snuck past the elders' den and the nursery before nearing the apprentices' den.

A pale gray she-cat with amber eyes emerged from the apprentices' den just as Swiftleaf passed. The young she-cat looked up at the cream-colored warrior. "Hey, Swiftleaf," she yawned, her lips curling back once more before letting them relax.

"Good morning, Pebblepaw," she greeted her younger companion. Swiftleaf used to sleep next to Pebblepaw in the apprentices' den about a moon before. The two she-cats shared a nest during leaf-bare to keep each other warm during the cold nights.

Pebblepaw stretched in a feline-like way and flexed her claws, yawning once more. "Great StarClan it's early. Why did Stripeclaw have to choose my mentor and me to go on this patrol?" she complained and stalked groggily over to Mouseclaw. The senior warrior sat, his tail wrapped around his paws listening to Stripeclaw talk.

Stripeclaw's ears pricked up at Pebblepaw's approach. "Good. You're here. Okay, Mouseclaw, Pebblepaw, Streamfeather and Wolfpelt, you go on a patrol along the northern border, just beyond that copse of trees at the top of the gorge toward the Twolegplace. Icepool, Swiftleaf, Spiderpaw and I will take the southern border toward the forest and loop back around toward the Whispering Cave."

Mouseclaw dipped his head and flicked his tail for his patrol to follow as he led the way up the path that Swiftleaf had just descended so they would be able to swoop around the fence that separated the forest from the Twolegplace and mark the border. Stripeclaw trotted off to the apprentices' den to wake up Spiderpaw, leaving Swiftleaf and Icepool alone.

"Icepool," Swiftleaf addressed the pure white she-cat who was licking her foreleg.

Icepool's ears pricked up at the sound of her name. She put her foreleg down and gave her chest a few quick licks. "Yes, Swiftleaf?" she asked kindly.

"Why isn't Frecklepaw coming if you're her mentor?" Swiftleaf asked awkwardly. She hated to ask the other warriors questions. Barely a moon ago, she had just been made a warrior along with her two brothers, Turtlestorm and Spottedfur.

Icepool looked at her thoughtfully, and as if she could read the younger she-cat's mind she flicked Swiftleaf's shoulder gently with her tail-tip. "Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it," she soothed. "She's probably not coming because there are already four warriors in this patrol. Plus, she's still a new 'paw and isn't that familiar with the territory. If it were a hunting patrol, it would be different."

Swiftleaf nodded and looked down at her paws. She shuffled them nervously and wrapped her tail around her paws. Just then, Stripeclaw emerged from the apprentices' den with his black-furred apprentice behind him.

Spiderpaw's ears were flattened against his head as he followed his mentor lead the patrol out toward the southern border. Swiftleaf followed, her eyes fixed on Spiderpaw. The younger cat was muttering under his breath about getting up early in the morning.

Swiftleaf padded up beside him. "It gets easier, you know," she murmured to him.

Spiderpaw let out an annoyed hiss. "I know that!" he snapped and bounded so he padded beside Stripeclaw.

Looking at her paws, Swiftleaf trudged on. _What am I doing wrong? When I was an apprentice everyone respected the new warriors. They were always so confident like they knew what to do… What's wrong with me?_ She wondered sadly.

Icepool jogged up so she traveled beside her again. "Ignore him, Swiftleaf," she hissed shooting an angry glance at Spiderpaw. "He's just jealous that you were made a warrior and he wasn't."

Swiftleaf tried to focus on the horizon, but returned her gaze to her paws before long. She remembered how Spiderpaw and been injured by a fox that broke his shoulder when he was a kit and had to start his training late, when he should have been made an apprentice along with Swiftleaf and her littermates. Spiderpaw greatly resented it, and didn't even join in the celebration of Swiftleaf's and her brothers' warrior ceremonies.

Stripeclaw led the way along the bottom of the canyon. They finally reached an area that wasn't as rocky as the camp was. There was a path that zigzagged up the rock face to the enchanting Whispering Cave. Swiftleaf flattened her ears against her ear in submission as she gazed up at the dark, black hole in the side of the rock wall. She heard Pawstep and Ravenclaw, their medicine cat, and medicine cat apprentice, tell stories about the Whispering Cave. Ravenclaw said that were was a winding path that snaked deep into the rock. Along the sides of the path where small streams of water that were surprisingly deep if stepped on, and moss always grew on the silver walls. In the center of the cavern, there was a stone that projected out of the pathway like a beacon. Once a cat reached the main cavern, they would touch their nose to the stone and let the whispers of StarClan lull them into a sleep.

Swiftleaf had never been to the main cavern of the Whispering Cave. She'd just been toward the entrance to pull moss off the walls. The darkness of the tunnel always made her shudder. She would always feel like she wasn't anything compared to the awesome power of StarClan. Being a warrior required strength, but being close to StarClan and sharing tongues with them, required a different kind of strength—a spiritual one; a strength that Swiftleaf believed the lacked.

Stripeclaw pushed them farther on. "Come on, we'll leave the borders a little ways further than this, then we'll loop around and cut through the trees. I want every rock or tree sprayed every couple tail-lengths," he informed the patrol.

When they finally reached the destination, Stripeclaw began to mark the territory along with Spiderpaw and Icepool. "Should I stand guard?" Swiftleaf asked her father.

Stripeclaw's whiskers twitched in debate. "Sure. If there are any foxes, badgers, or worse—Twolegs, you'll spot them."

As Spiderpaw and Icepool continued to renew the scent-markers, Stripeclaw fell back beside his daughter. "How are you doing? You seem upset," he murmured licking her ear affectionately.

"I just feel so out of place… I have no idea what in the name of StarClan I'm doing," she sighed, her tail drooping. She flattened her ears against her head in resignation.

Her father licked the space between her ears and let out a soft purr. "Don't worry. You'll get used to it. It's a little unusual and confusing to each new warrior. We're all different, and we all adjust at our own pace. I know Spiderpaw isn't helping. Just bear with him. He's gone through a lot."

Swiftleaf swallowed back a sigh. Stripeclaw flicked her shoulder blade gently with his tail. "Like I said, don't worry. Don't be afraid to ask questions. In fact, if you're not sure about anything, it's better that you do ask a senior warrior. That way, you won't make a mistake."

"I know, but then they'll think I'm no better than a fresh apprentice… I know everything; I'm just not used to being a warrior yet. It's so different," Swiftleaf mewed.

The SkyClan deputy opened his mouth to say something, but a yowl startled them both. "Stripeclaw!" Icepool's yowl echoed through the canyon walls, reverberating off the stone. "Hurry! We have and injured cat down here!"

Stripeclaw's eyes widened and sped off toward Icepool's voice. Swiftleaf blindly followed. Icepool's yowl still rung in her ears as she pelted after her father. She thought: _I hope it's not a Clan cat! What cat would be so far from camp at dawn? What if it's a loner? Will we bring it back to the camp?_

A more strict side of Swiftleaf made her hiss quietly in annoyance at herself. _You're a warrior now! Not a mouse-brained apprentice! Start acting like one, rather than acting like a total badger-brain._

Stripeclaw skidded to a sudden halt. Swiftleaf tried to copy her father's quick stop, but stumbled into him. Stripeclaw hissed in surprise as the larger brown tabby warrior was flattened by his daughter's cream pelt.

"Watch where you're putting your paws!" Spiderpaw hissed who was standing a mouse-length in front of Stripeclaw. "You nearly flattened me as well, you mouse-brain!"

Swiftleaf flattened her ears against her head once more and climbed off her father. "Sorry," she mumbled in apology. She glared at Spiderpaw. She'd had enough of his attitude. _Flea-pelt,_ she thought to herself. _I'm still a warrior! He should have more respect for his elders!_

Spiderpaw returned her glare. He looked over at the injured cat that Swiftleaf still hadn't seen. Swiftleaf peeked around her father's broad-shoulders. Icepool was sitting next to fiery ginger tom with one white paw. Blood oozed from a long claw slice in his shoulder, it also trickled from one of his nostrils. Fur was ripped off his back and in patches, but it appeared that it would grow back. He had many minor injuries that were bleeding, by not as severely as the shoulder wound.

For a moment, Swiftleaf thought the tom was dead until she saw the faint rise and fall of his flanks. She stared at him with wide eyes. "What do you think happened to him?" she breathed.

Stripeclaw sniffed him. "I'm not sure. Maybe a badger, or a small group of cats," he mused. "Either way, we must move him. Spiderpaw, Icepool, help hoist him onto my back. Swiftleaf, run back to camp and tell Pawstep and Ravenclaw to be ready."

Swiftleaf gave her father a quick nod and pelted off back toward the camp. As she was running, she began to think. _At least I know the territory well,_ she reasoned and continued to run.

When she reached the camp, she slowed as Rockpile came into view. Her muscles ached with effort, and her lungs and throat burned. As she slowed, she began to stagger. She rushed to the medicine cat den. "Pawstep!" she half-yowled.

The one-eyed Ravenclaw raised his head from looking in a herb storage. "Swiftleaf," he meowed, his voice eerily calm. "What is it? Is Stripeclaw hurt?"

"No…" Swiftleaf panted. "We… we… we found this… this cat… it… it's injured… Stripeclaw and the others… are bringing it back," she huffed.

Ravenclaw nodded and brushed past her out of the den. Swiftleaf followed quickly, her muscles still aching from the run. "Swiftleaf," a she-cat's voice mewed worriedly to right.

Swiftleaf turned to see her mother, Aspenleaf trotting up to her. "Is everything alright? Is Stripeclaw okay?" she asked, a worried look flashing in her eyes at the suggestion her mate was hurt.

"No... He's… he's fine," Swiftleaf breathed. "They found a loner that was injured," she explained, finally beginning to catch her breath. She turned to see Ravenclaw's white-tipped tail disappearing into Crescentstar's den.

Darksky emerged from the nursery, flanked by her two kits. "Is Stripeclaw okay?" she asked, an anxious look on her face.

"Hi, Swiftleaf!" Eaglekit purred. The young ginger tom was standing on Darksky's left side, the closest to Swiftleaf. While Aspenleaf explained the situation to Darksky, Fallingkit slunk under her mother's belly to stand beside her brother.

"Yeah, hi!" the white she-cat piped up. Her black paws glimmered just as bright as her white fur in the sunlight.

"Hello, you two," Swiftleaf purred, gazing at the kits kindly.

A yowl interrupted Fallingkit, who had opened her jaws to say something. Aspenleaf spun around and raced over to her mate who was staggering into camp under the large ginger tom's weight. Breezemoon and Vineclaw rushed over to help lower the ginger cat off Stripeclaw's shoulders. Stripeclaw crouched low so the other two toms could pull the ginger cat off of him.

Ravenclaw was there immediately to give him a quick once-over. Aspenleaf stood beside her mate and began speaking to him in a hushed voice. Stripeclaw replied in the same tone with an assuring look on his face.

Swiftleaf had been so preoccupied on her parents, she didn't notice when her brother, Turtlestorm padded up beside her.

"What happened?" he asked, his pale yellow eyes wide as he watched Breezemoon and Vineclaw help Ravenclaw carry the ginger tom to the medicine cat den.

Swiftleaf looked over at her brother. His long, fluffy black fur looked as majestic as usual. Despite his unusually long fur, Turtlestorm somehow always managed to keep it clean. "We found an injured loner on the southern border," she explained.

Turtlestorm shot a glance at his parents. "What do you think has Aspenleaf all worked up?" he inquired in a hushed voice, shooting a furtive glance at the kits that were watching the warriors take the loner to the medicine cat's den.

Darksky wrapped her tail around them and pulled them back. "Come on, now," she meowed as she ushered them back to the nursery.

As the kits and their mother got out of ear-shot, Swiftleaf shrugged. "I dunno… Why would she be worried about some loner?"

"Maybe she's worried about who, or what did that to him," Turtlestorm suggested.

"Maybe we should talk about this with Spottedfur. Is he around?" Swiftleaf asked in a whisper.

"I don't think that would be necessary. I mean, it's natural for a cat to be worried about something that might be nearby that could inflict such damage," Turtlestorm offered.

"True… I just… Never mind," Swiftleaf sighed.

Turtlestorm looked her up and down for a minute before nodding and padding off toward the fresh-kill pile.

Swiftleaf sat at the base of the path that led up and eventually out toward the maple tree copse. She wrapped her tail around her paws and peered into the medicine cat den trying to catch a glimpse of the cats inside. It wasn't long before Breezemoon and Vineclaw emerged, murmuring quietly to themselves.

No matter how much she tried, she couldn't seem to think of why Aspenleaf would be so worried. She wondered what she had asked Stripeclaw about while they were alone. She knew it was highly possible that she was just worried that it would get close to camp… but what if she was worried about something else. She didn't know that much about her mother's past. All she knew was that her mother had grown up a loner, but had come to the Clan around warrior age with Stripeclaw. Other than that, she had no idea what her mother's history was.

_Maybe it's time I find out._

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><p>AN: Thanks for reading! This isn't my first Warriors FanFic, but it's my first on this site. R & R please! :D


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors!**

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><p><strong>Chapter Two<strong>

Turtlestorm watched as his parents padded out of camp to be alone the next morning. Crescentstar had told the Clan the previous night and said that the loner would be kept under Ravenclaw's care. Pawstep had traveled the Whispering Cave that night to speak with StarClan about the loner. Aspenleaf still seemed on edge about the whole situation, but her mate tried to soothe her with reassuring words and licks. It was obvious the two were very smitten with each other.

Watching the couple head out of camp, Turtlestorm let out a sigh as he guarded the camp from the top of path. The sun was setting in the distance as a gray sky took hold and twilight began to set.

He wished that he and Waspwing could be so close. Unfortunately, the ginger she-cat didn't even know he existed. He wrapped his long, fluffy tail along his paws and watched the sunset. He sighed once more and closed his eyes for a moment, before opening them.

Trying to remember what his mother had told him in the nursery when he was just a tiny kit, he clamped his eyes shut, hoping the darkness might help him focus. Aspenleaf had always told the kits that she was a loner that their father found and brought back to the Clan. They fell in love and they decided they wanted kits, so StarClan blessed them with him and his littermates.

_There has to be more than that,_ he reasoned. After thinking for a moment, he shook my head. _No. My mother would never lie to me like that. She has a right, I mean it is her life… but it'd be nice to know where our roots lie._

Opening his eyes, he wondered what Swiftleaf was doing at that moment. He hoped she was also trying to think of what their mother had told them, and if she ever let anything slip that there was much more to her story than she was letting on.

A twig cracking behind him made him jump. He leapt to his paws and whipped around, lips curled and hackles raised. A pale gray tom paused in mid-step. His were pricked and eyes worried with alarm. When Turtlestorm realized who it was, he relaxed and let his fur lay flat. "Oh, it's just you Spottedfur. Sorry. I wasn't really paying attention."

The flecked gray tom let out a muffled purr of laughter. "You never pay attention. You're too busy mooning of Waspwing to pay attention to your dear brother," he jested.

Turtlestorm hissed, his ears flattening against his head. "You rabbit-brained fool," he hissed under his breath. "The warriors' den is right over there! What if she heard you?" he demanded.

Spottedfur purred louder, his whiskers twitching in amusement. "You stupid furball!" he teased. "The whole Clan knows you're _fond_ of her, as the elders say. '_They start younger and younger every year,_'" he purred in laughter once more, trying to mimic Candy's high-pitched, raspy voice.

Turtlestorm let out a chuckle. "Respect your elders!" he joked.

Spottedfur crouched playfully and waggled his haunches, his tail twitching back and forth. "Going to try and make me?" he growled playfully.

Turtlestorm copied his brother's movements and lunged for him, being sure to keep his claws sheathed. Spottedfur dived under him and pawed at his belly fur, missing his actual flesh. Turtlestorm let out a triumphant growl. "It pays to have long fur sometimes!" he meowed, smirking at his brother whose slick gray fur was always close to his skin.

Spottedfur hissed playfully. "I'll flatten you!" he warned.

An irritated hiss broke their play fight. Both toms rose from their crouches to see the commotion. Wolfpelt had emerged from the warriors' den. "Are you two warriors or kits? Show some pride," he growled and padded down into the gorge.

Spottedfur curled his lips after the older warrior. "He's been a warrior for a moon longer than us and he thinks he's Clan leader," he spat.

"Oh come on, everyone's a little arrogant when they're newly made warriors, right? Let him bask in his sunlight while it lasts," Turtlestorm purred and sat down at the edge of the path.

Spottedfur looked at the setting sun, sitting about a tail-length from his brother. "Yeah, it will be gone quickly," he joked. "Have you seen Swiftleaf? I haven't had a chance to share tongues with her all day."

"I met her this morning in camp when they brought that loner in. I haven't seen her since. I had to go on a hunting patrol, and now I have to guard the camp," Turtlestorm muttered.

"Better you than me," Spottedfur jested.

Turtlestorm shot him a glare.

"Oh, come off it!" he scoffed. "Or should I go get our mother?"

Turtlestorm let out an amused purr. "Get out of here. I should be concentrating on my duties."

"Oh yes! StarClan forbid you're distracted! You might miss the grass being blown by the wind," he teased, his whiskers twitching.

"As much as I don't want to stay up until moonhigh, this is a serious job. If any cat turns up looking for the loner, it's my responsibility to alert the Clan!" Turtlestorm purred trying to make himself sound important in front of his brother. He fluffed out his fur, trying to look dignified.

Spottedfur purred in laughter. "Should I fetch you a mouse, oh mighty warrior?" he joked. "Should I let you sharpen your claws on my spine? You're so important, I would be honored to have my back torn up by a _hero._"

Turtlestorm chuckled. "How is you're still single?"

Spottedfur's whiskers twitched in amusement. "She-cats," he mewed, resentment sharpening his tone. "They say _we're_ complicated. I wanted to do something nice for Emberclaw and bring her a mouse after sunhigh—she didn't even thank me! She growled and said that was Badgerleg's job!"

"Well… you are mooning over a she-cat that already has a mate. You're just lucky Badgerleg hasn't seen you. You know him—he's not called _Badger_leg for nothing. He's just as strong as one," Turtlestorm reminded. "You're treading on dangerous ground padding after her."

Spottedfur's ears flattened against his head in annoyance. "I know. You tell me this every time I mention it."  
>"I just don't want to see my brother get hurt over a <em>she-cat,<em>" Turtlestorm meowed.

"You say that, then you go padding after Waspwing like everything's wonderful in your little world," Spottedfur growled. "She barely knows you exist, Turtlestorm."

Turtlestorm sighed and watched the sun disappear beyond the horizon. "I know…" he mumbled sadly.

Spottedfur shot him a bewildered look. "Now it's time for you to insult me," he reminded.

Turtlestorm's ears flattened against his head as he thought about Waspwing. "No thanks. You're right after all. She hates me."

Spottedfur moved closed and wrapped his tail reassuringly around him. "Come on, Turtlestorm. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, and don't beat yourself up about it. She'll notice you one day. At least you have a shot. Emberclaw hates my tail."

Turtlestorm let out a muffled purr. "You should probably get some rest. If I'm right, tomorrow, it's your turn to go on the dawn patrol."

Spottedfur let out a fake yawn. "I'm tired already."

Turtlestorm rolled his eyes playfully as his brother retreated to the warriors' den. Turtlestorm tried not to let the soft sounds of the night lull him to sleep as he rested his eyes periodically. He tried to keep his eyes on the gorge bellow, and his ears on the maple copse behind him.

He kept his mouth open to let any scents flow toward him. The wind was blowing toward him from the north, and from the beach copse. An unfamiliar scent made his eyes snap open. He sniffed the air, his hackles rising.

Turning around slowly, he peered into the darkness. He'd never smelled such a scent before. It was musky, but earthy. It smelled like a cat had rolled around in the dirt for too long. He crouched low and crept forward silently. The maple copse was silent—not even any nocturnal birds were chirping in the trees. A raven cawed closer to the Twolegplace even farther north.

The scent snaked through the maple copse toward the old barn where the rats formerly lived. He remembered hearing the terrifying stories as a kit about the rats that terrorized the Clan in its early years in the gorge. My fur stood on end. He knew he couldn't go alone. _Spottedfur,_ he thought.

He bounded back to the gorge and slid into the warriors den. Bramblefrost raised his head groggily. "Is it moonhigh already?" he asked quietly.

"No," Turtlestorm mewed quietly. Turtlestorm prodded his brother in the side with my paw. His ears twitched in his sleep, but he didn't wake. He prodded him once more, this time more forcefully.

Spottedfur blinked his eyes open and looked up at me with his sky-blue eyes. "What in the name of StarClan—" he began, but Turtlestorm put my tail over his mouth, his eyes on my father's brown tabby fur. His ears strained to hear him wake up, but he rolled over closer to my mother and didn't wake. Turtlestorm let out a sigh of relief.

"Outside," he whispered.

As Turtlestorm left the den, Spottedfur followed. What he didn't expect to see was Swiftleaf also emerge from the den, on her brother's tail. "What is this about?" she hissed once they were all outside.

"Not here," Turtlestorm mewed shooting a nervous glance at the warriors' den in the rock wall. "Come on," he summoned, flicking my tail toward the maple copse. When we reached the edge of the cluster of trees, he turned to face his littermates.

"Well?" Spottedfur hissed.

"There's a cat out there. I want to follow it's scent," Turtlestorm confessed.

"And just leave camp unprotected in the middle of the night?" Swiftleaf demanded. "That's completely mouse-brained!"

Turtlestorm sighed. "Sniff the air. You'll smell the scent. It just… it's nothing I've ever smelled before."

Spottedfur sniffed the air, and screwed up his eyes. He nodded. "I smell it too… I think we should follow it."

Swiftleaf sighed. "Well, you're not just going to abandon your post are you? We've only been warriors a moon, and you're pulling a stunt like this?"

Turtlestorm rolled his eyes. "If you wanna stay and guard the camp, be my guest," he hissed and took off into the maple copse, Spottedfur on his tail.

They bounded easily through the trees and finally came to an open space. The moon was rising now. It was claw-moon, but silver still shone down on everything, glazing it in the brilliant cover. Turtle took a step out into the open field of grass.

Spottedfur followed, moving so he treaded beside him. The two cats padded across the open space. Turtlestorm felt his pelt prickle with unease. Out here, in the open, they were so vulnerable. He looked up at the night sky. The Silverpelt dotted the sky, but Turtlestorm was looking for the outline of an owl.

Spottedfur glanced over his shoulder. "I can't believe she's actually missing this," he purred in laughed. "I'm never gonna let her live this down!"

"You know Swiftleaf. She wants to be a good, loyal warrior and she's still having a hard time adjusting to being a warrior. She's still very unsure of herself, and wants to make the right decisions. I should've stayed at my post, or at least gone and woken one of the senior warriors. This was irresponsible and we'll both get in trouble." Turtlestorm meowed.

"Jeez, having senior warrior moment are you?" Spottedfur teased. "Relax. We used to pull stunts like this all the time when we were apprentices!"

"I know, and they clawed our ears. Now we're warriors. So much more is expected from us now," Turtlestorm replied.

"Wow. More like a senior warrior minute. Like I said before, relax! Even if we do get in trouble, we're not going to be the first new warriors to get in trouble, and we're not going to be the last," Spottedfur mewed.

Turtlestorm sighed. "I know."

They were more than halfway across the open field when the barn loomed into view. Spottedfur bounded it toward him, and sniffed the wire fence, curious. "Wow! So this is the old barn where the rats lived?" he asked, staring up at it.

Turtlestorm's whiskers twitched in amusement at his brother's amazement. He had to admit the barn was impressive. He opened his mouth to let out a sigh, but a musky scent caught his nose. It was different than the cat's scent. It had obviously been a cat. It smelled like mice, but… different. His eyes widened when he placed the smell.

"Spottedfur," he tried to meow calmly. "Back away from the barn."

The scent got stronger as Spottedfur looked at his brother. "Why?"

"MOVE!" Turtlestorm caterwauled, but it was too late. Rats began squeezing out of the barn. Spottedfur yowled in surprise as the rats pushed through the fence. Turtlestorm hared up to his brother and shoved him. "GO!" he yelled.

The two cats pelted as fast as they could to escape the rats. Turtlestorm cast a glance over his shoulder. More and more rats were pouring out of the barn, making annoying squeaking sounds. Turtlestorm saw them coming toward him and his brother in one huge mass dotted with red eyes. It was only then did Turtlestorm see that they were running in the opposite direction of camp. How long would the rats be willing to follow them? _StarClan help us!_

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><p>AN: Thanks for reading! R & R please!


	4. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors.**

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><p><strong>Chapter Three<strong>

Spottedfur raced forward, Turtlestorm at his side. Blood roared in his ears as he pelted along, digging his claws into the dirt in an effort to move faster. He could still smell and hear the rats trailing them. Spottedfur slid down a slope, Turtlestorm on his tail. Both cats stumbled before they continued to pelt forward. A familiar sound hit Spottedfur's ears. He glanced to his left. _The river!_

"Get to the river!" Spottedfur yowled to his brother. Turtlestorm flicked his tail to know he understood. Spottedfur skidded to a halt and darted to the left with Turtlestorm on his heels. The muddy water swirled around as the current flowed downstream toward the forest where the legendary Firestar hailed from.

Without thinking, Spottedfur jumped off the bank and splashed into the murky water. Water surrounded him, soaking him to the bone. He tried not to suck in any water as the current dragged him down. He wondered how Turtlestorm was doing with his thick fur. Flailing his limbs rapidly, he tried to reach the surface, his lungs burning. Clawing at the water, his head finally broke the surface. He was being rushed downstream. Turtlestorm was a few fox-lengths behind him coughing and spluttering.

Spottedfur tried to swim to his brother, blinking water out of his eyes. His eyes stung from the dirt in the water. He paddled toward Turtlestorm, his eyes closed, trying to prevent more river water from entering.

His paws hit something soft. He opened his eyes and saw his brother's long black fur under his forepaws. Both cats were being swept downriver still. Turtlestorm was coughing still. Spottedfur looked for a low enough bank to swim for.

The river flowed into a larger bay area before continuing downstream. The water here was calmer in this larger body of water. "Swim for the edge!" Spottedfur yowled to his brother. He let go and began to swim as fast as he could, moving his legs in long, powerful strokes.

Spottedfur reached the shore first and pulled himself out. Turtlestorm followed. Both toms pulled themselves out of the water and onto the dry rocky ground of the gorge. Unfortunately for them, they were in a part of the gorge neither one had seen before. The moon was just reaching its highest point in the sky as was the two cats decided they would have no choice but to spend the night by the lagoon. Turtlestorm was still shaking his pelt dry as Spottedfur tried to find a place to sleep.

Wandering farther away from the water, he tried to plan their route home instead of looking for any form of a den. _If we just follow the river north, we'll come across the camp eventually,_ he reasoned.

Sighing, he found a place between two boulders that looked suitable. "Turtlestorm!" he called over his shoulder into the darkness. A few moments later, Turtlestorm came bounding up. "We'll sleep here and head home in the morning," Spottedfur meowed.

"Wow. I thought I was supposed to be the senior warrior," Turtlestorm joked, lying down on the rocky ground.

Spottedfur sighed and sat down a tail-length away. He watched his brother rasp his pink tongue over his jet-black fur. "This is my fault. I should've listened to Swiftleaf and we should've gone back to camp like you said."  
>"Don't worry. We're not gonna be the first warriors to get in trouble, and we won't be the last," Turtlestorm teased. "But seriously Spottedfur," he added on a more serious note. "We'll go back tomorrow, and we'll be able to warn the Clan about the rats and the intruder!"<p>

Spottedfur shrugged. "Yeah," he allowed and lay down next to his brother. He listened to the rushing of the river in the distance, and the chirping of crickets throughout the gorge. Finally after a moon shift, he let sleep overtake him.

Spottedfur woke the next morning in a daze. He looked around, confused. After a few moments, he remembered the previous night's events—the blood roaring in his ears, the hot scent of rats swirling around him, the rush of the river, and the guilt of what he'd dragged his brother into.

Rising to his paws, he looked over at his brother, Turtlestorm who was still asleep. Spottedfur gave himself a quick washing before deciding to head out and hunt for the two of them. His stomach rumbled with hunger as he sniffed the air.

His hackles rose when he smelled the same scent he'd smelled when Turtlestorm woke him—that musky, earthy smell. He hissed; it smelled fresh. "Who's there?" he snarled. He looked around, but nothing stirred.

Muttering, he made his way to the lagoon. On the other side of the water, trees lined the banks—maples, ashes, and willows by the looks of it. Further downstream on his own side, he saw trees springing up out of softer soil, he thought he even saw grass further down.

Padding off in that direction, the scent got stronger. Not wanting to take any chances, he unsheathed his claws and continued on. When he reached the first tree, he began to relax. He never really liked open areas, but preferred the calm, sheltered places under the trees. The greenleaf sun slanted down on his pale gray fur through the trees.

Opening his mouth to taste, the air, he smelled the scent again, but this time it was much stronger, and fresher. His ears flattened against his head as he let out another hiss. "Show yourself!"

Nothing moved.

Glaring, he kept moving forward, his ears pricked trying to detect any noisy movements. A twig cracked from somewhere behind him. He whipped around, hackles raised. A hiss of surprise sounded as a pale cream pelt ducked behind a tree. Spottedfur cocked his head to the side. "Swiftleaf?" he called.

"I'm not a Clan cat you beetle-brain!" the voice hissed.

"Come out," Spottedfur half-growled.

There was a sigh of resignation as a pale cream-colored she-cat emerged from behind a tree. She had a ghostly color to her, like Turtlestorm's eyes in the dark. Her pelt was cream like Swiftleaf's, but it paler, almost a beige color. It was also longer like Turtlestorm's and smelled of earth, but was surprisingly clean. She had emerald-green eyes that stared at Spottedfur with a mixture of hatred and weariness.

"Who are you?" Spottedfur addressed her. He tried not to stare. _She's beautiful,_ he thought.

The she-cat hissed at him as if she could read her thoughts. "Stop looking at me that way, you worthless tomcat!" she snarled.

"Your name," Spottedfur meowed.

"My name is irrelevant. I'm looking for my brother—he has ginger fur and one white paw. Have you seen him?" she asked, warily, still not looking away from him.

Spottedfur sat down and curled his tail around his paws. "As a matter of fact—" he began, but was cut off by a yowl that came from the two rocks Turtlestorm had been sleeping between. "Turtlestorm!" he yowled back.

"Turtlestorm? What kind of a beetle-brained name is that?" the she-cat hiss.

"He's my brother," Spottedfur mewed, haring past her. HE raced toward the rocks, only to hear two voices arguing. He recognized them both.

"Spiderpaw!" Turtlestorm growled. "You scared the StarClan out of me!"  
>Spiderpaw hissed. "What in the name of StarClan are you doing out here anyway?" the younger tom challenged.<p>

"I was about to ask you the same thing!" Turtlestorm snarled just as Spottedfur skidded to a halt beside them.

"What's wrong?" Spottedfur asked. He saw Spiderpaw glaring at them. "Aw, what's the matter? Crescentstar post-pone your warrior ceremony again?" he sneered.

Spiderpaw hissed. "What are you two doing out here?"

"We were following a scent of a cat last night and it led past the old barn the elders talk about. A colony of rats is living there again. It chased us to the river. We jumped in and got washed down here," Turtlestorm explained.

Spiderpaw purred. "Crescentstar'll shred you!" he meowed happily.

Spottedfur growled. "Turtlestorm, I met this she-cat," he began and looked back toward the woods, but couldn't see the she-cat any longer.

"Yeah?" Turtlestorm asked giving him an interested look.

"She ran off."

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><p>AN: Well things are starting to get more exciting! :) R & R PLEASE! :D


	5. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors!**

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><p><strong>CHAPTER FOUR<strong>

Swiftleaf rested her head on her paws as she lounged around camp awaiting news of her brothers. She laid in the shade of the rocks near the apprentices' den as the hot greenleaf sun shone down hot on the stone canyon ground. Icepool padded up to her. "Swiftleaf," she meowed and sat beside the cream she-cat. "Don't worry. They're warriors. They'll be fine."

Icepool licked the space between Swiftleaf's ears like Aspenleaf used to do. Swiftleaf let out a sigh. "I should've gone with them, or tried to stop them."

"It's not your fault," Icepool assured. "You stayed responsible and watched the camp. You made a good decision there."

Ravenclaw padded out of the medicine cat den and went toward them. "Swiftleaf," he meowed to the younger she-cat.

Swiftleaf sat up into a sitting position, her ears erect. "Yes, Ravenclaw?" she asked, worriedly. "Did you get a sign from StarClan about my brothers?"

Ravenclaw's whiskers twitched in amusement. "They'll be fine," he assured her, just as Icepool had. "I need your help actually. Will you come with me?"

Swiftleaf nodded warily as Ravenclaw led the way back to the medicine cat den. Pawstep was rummaging through her herb storages that were kept in the notches and small holes in the walls of the den. "Good, you brought her," Pawstep meowed as she saw Swiftleaf and Ravenclaw enter.

Ravenclaw dipped his head and padded deeper into the den, flicking his tail for Swiftleaf to follow. The ginger tomcat that had been brought back the day before lay in the nest furthest from the entrance.

"What do you want me to do?" Swiftleaf asked, puzzled. _What do they expect me to do? I'm no medicine cat._

"Talk to him," Ravenclaw replied simply. "Pawstep and I are going out to gather herbs and he'll be awake any moment," he mewed. "We figured it would give you something to keep your mind off your brothers."

Swiftleaf suppressed a sigh of relief. At least Ravenclaw and Pawstep knew she was worried and wanted to help her.

As the two medicine cats left the den, the ginger tomcat began to stir. He was curled up in his nest, with his tail wrapped around his nose. Pawstep and Ravenclaw had done quite a good job sealing up his wounds. _I wonder how he got those. Whatever happened, it must've been horrible to get wounds like that. He's probably lucky he escaped with his life._

As if on cue, the tom stirred. His tail twitched and slowly moved away from his face. He blinked open his amber eyes. When he saw Swiftleaf he let out a startled yowl and leapt to his paws, claws unsheathed, lips curled and hackles raised.

"No, no!" Swiftleaf meowed quickly. "I won't hurt you! My Clanmates and I found you! We brought you back here and fixed your wounds. Lie back down, you don't want to reopen them."

The ginger tom looked skeptical. "Why should I trust you?" he asked. His voice was soft, wary, but almost like her brother Spottedfur's. It had a carefree, but also arrogant tone to it.

"Because I'm one of the cats who saved your life! I, well we, found you unconscious in the forest and we saved you," she snapped.

The cat let his lips relax and his fur lie flat. Slowly, he began to lay back down in his nest, wincing every time one of his wounds brushed something. Finally, Swiftleaf gave in and helped him relax in his mossy nest.

"Thanks," the cat mewed once he got relaxed.

"First you hiss at me, now you're thanking me?" Swiftleaf growled.

The cat's eyes narrowed and lips curled. "I never asked you to save me, or help me for that matter. I don't need you, or anybody!"\

"I bet talking like that is how you got clawed like that in the first place!" Swiftleaf replied indignantly.

The tom hissed again. "No. I actually had a fight with my brothers… We'll them and my family I suppose. They wanted to do this plan, but I knew it was wrong, so I protested and my one brother, Raccoon accused me of being a mouse-heart, so I attacked him, then he and my other brother Snake attacked me and chased me off."

"Oh," was all Swiftleaf could think to say. She secretly felt bad for the poor tom. She wondered what she would do if Turtlestorm and Spottedfur attacked her like that. _I'd run too,_ she decided. _I could never hurt my brothers._

"Yeah, I know," he sighed. "It's not a very happy ending. Whenever you let me up, I'll go back to them."

"Go back?" Swiftleaf gasped, taken aback.

"Yeah…" the cat mewed, giving her a quizzical look. "They're family, and no matter what disagreements we have, I have to be loyal to them."

"Your family…" Swiftleaf murmured. "Where are they?"

The tom's eyes narrowed. "Why would I tell you? What if you and your companions try and attack us?" he demanded, his amber eyes blazing. "I've already said too much as it is! My father will claw my ears off!"

"No!" Swiftleaf gasped once more. "No, we won't attack you! I just never knew, in fact, I don't think any of us knew there were other cats in the area."

"Good," the tom spat. "And you would've kept thinking that if I hadn't been so beetle-brained and ran this direction. The elder warned us of other cats. I never believed them, but now you know of us."

"We won't attack you," Swiftleaf repeated. "I'm Swiftleaf," she added in a friendly voice.

"I'm… I'm Blaze," he replied looking at his paws almost sheepishly. "Where… where am I exactly?"

Swiftleaf wrinkled her nose. She didn't trust Blaze. _One minute, he nearly claws my face off, the next he's all shy and curious like a kit. Where in the name of StarClan did he come from?_ she wondered bitterly. "You're in the SkyClan camp."

"SkyClan?" Blaze wondered aloud. "The elders in my family sometimes talked of them. They said that SkyClan cats had been here long before our family. But then they died out, or left the gorge and our family began to roam further into the gorge. When we learned of the rats, we decided to stick to our… home."

"Which is?" Swiftleaf asked, curiously.

Blaze narrowed his eyes. "None of your business."

Swiftleaf let out a sigh of defeat. "I better go get Crescentstar, our leader. She'll want to speak with you," she meowed and padded out of the den. She turned left and bounded over to the leader's den that, like the medicine cat' den, was in a cluster of rocks. Outside, Crescentstar's scent was fresh so Swiftleaf knew the SkyClan leader would be inside.

She poked her head inside to see Crescentstar sitting in her mossy nest, speaking with Stripeclaw who sat in front of her. The SkyClan deputy was engaging conversation when Crescentstar raised her tail for him to stop. "Can I help you Swiftleaf?" she asked, her voice as smooth as honey.

"The ginger tomcat Stripeclaw's patrol brought in yesterday is awake," she announced, trying to sound formal for her leader.

Crescentstar gave her a quick nod. She looked at Stripeclaw. "We'll finish this later," she murmured to her brown tabby deputy before following Swiftleaf out of the den. Swiftleaf led Crescentstar to the medicine cat den,

Blaze was still in his nest, licking his wounds. As the two she-cats entered, Blaze looked up from licking a long scratch on his shoulder. "I wouldn't do that," Crescentstar recommended. "The poultice helps the wound to heal."

Swiftleaf sat near Blaze's head while Crescentstar sat next to the younger she-cat.

"What do you want?" Blaze asked glowering at the both of them.

"Well a bit of respect for the fact that I allowed you to stay in my camp, and I wasted herbs and supplies on you. Also, a simple thank you for my medicine cat and her apprentice wouldn't go amiss," Crescentstar meowed.

Blaze's lips curled back in a snarl. "If it was all such a waste, why did you save me?"

"Because we are not rogues," Crescentstar replied. "We will not just let a cat die because he isn't one of us. We have hearts, you know."

Blaze glared at the ground, and muttered something under his breath. "When can I leave?" he asked.

"When my medicine cat releases you," Crescentstar replied and gave her chest a few quick licks. "She will be the judge of how fit you are to travel." Crescentstar then returned her gaze to Swiftleaf who sat silently beside her. "Thank you, Swiftleaf, but I think it would be best if I had a few words with Blaze alone."

"No," Blaze hissed quickly. "She stays. I still don't trust you... but I sort of trust her," he added, flicking his tail at Swiftleaf.

Swiftleaf resisted the urge to narrow her eyes. She felt a little honored that he trusted her, but she was the first SkyClan cat he met. However, she was also not sure about this strange cat. At first he was hissing at her, and now he trusted her? _Why is he acting so weird? Suddenly, he trusts me but not my Clan leader. What does he think I'll do? I'm a newly-made warrior! I'm inexperienced, clueless, and I'm mouse-brained. My brothers could be dead out there because I was too scared to go with them! I'm a coward!_ she thought.

Crescentstar narrowed her eyes. "Very well," she allowed. "Where did you come from?"

"Downriver. I'm not saying where exactly. We knew SkyClan lived further down the gorge but we had no desire for trouble. We wanted you cats never to learn of our existence, but I guess I blew it," Blaze half-snarled, glancing quickly at Swiftleaf.

Crescentstar opened her jaws to ask another question, but a yowl cut her off. "Crescentstar!" Spiderpaw's voice yowled from outside.

The two SkyClan she-cats pelted out of the medicine cat's den into the open. Spiderpaw was bounding up to them from further down the river, trailing behind him were none other than Turtlestorm and Spottedfur.

Swiftleaf hared up to her brother, her lips curled back in a snarl, and her hackles raised. "WHAT IN THE NAME OF STARCLAN WERE YOU THINKING?" she yowled. "YOU COULD'VE BEEN KILLED, WOUNDED OR WORSE!"

Turtlestorm looked at his paws while Spottedfur flattened his ears against his head. "Who are you, our mother?" he snarled back.

Aspenleaf and Stripeclaw bounded up to their kits. "Swiftleaf has every right to rebuke you, Spottedfur! What were you two thinking? Sneaking off in the middle of the night! Young warriors and apprentices can be irresponsible, but I've never think any cat of your age or younger has ever attempted something so mouse-brained!"

Aspenleaf nodded in agreement. "You two had us worried sick!"

Turtlestorm and Spottedfur looked at their paws. "I smelled this weird scent and so Spottedfur and I decided to follow it. We followed it to the old barn where the rats used to live and… and the rats came back!" Turtlestorm meowed.

"What?" Crescentstar meowed, alarmed. She had been talking with Spiderpaw some distance away when Turtlestorm's words alerted her.

"The rats are back," Turtlestorm repeated.

Swiftleaf felt her blood run cold. She remembered nursery tales she'd heard when she was a kit about the rats that lived nearby in an old barn. They had a long, dark history with SkyClan. They were the reason the original SkyClan left the gorge entirely and went their own ways. _Will that happen to us? Will we have to move as well?_ she wondered in fear.

Crescentstar's eyes widened. She raced off to Rockpile which was right in front of the medicine cat's den. Swiftleaf and her brothers padded over there, knowing she would call a Clan meeting. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here beneath Rockpile for a Clan meeting!" she yowled. Her voice reverberated off the stone walls of the gorge, and echoed through the camp.

"Are you hurt?" Swiftleaf asked the two of them, unable to remain mad at her littermates for long.

"No, we outran the rats," Spottedfur meowed. "Then we went for a dip and I met this she-cat in the forest near we ended up sleeping."

"You met another cat?" Swiftleaf echoed him. "I wonder if it's a member of Blaze's family."

"Who?" Turtlestorm asked shooting her a quizzical look.

"The cat that I found yesterday on patrol woke up. I talked to him. He said his brothers did that to him," she explained, shuddering. "I couldn't imagine what he felt."

"Oh, I don't know. Pain?" Spottedfur offered jestingly.

Swiftleaf let out a hiss of annoyance as the littermates gathered with the rest of SkyClan before Rockpile. Swiftleaf saw Icepool's distinctive white pelt pick its way through the crowd to her. The she-cat was huffing when she finally reached her friend. "What's going on?"

"Well, the cat we found yesterday is awake and you know how rats used to live in the old barn?" Swiftleaf asked.

Icepool nodded, dubiously.

"Well they're back."

Icepool's eyes widened in fear, she looked at Crescentstar, scared. "What are we going to do?" she whispered.

"About what?" Swoopwhisker asked padding up beside Icepool. He licked her cheek before looking at Swiftleaf. "What's going on?" the ginger tom inquired.

"The rats are back," Icepool meowed to her mate.

Swoopwhisker's green eyes widened.

Crescentstar's yowl brought the Clan to silence. "Some of you," she mewed with a glance at Swiftleaf and her littermates, "may already know why this meeting is being called. Our old enemy has returned. The rats are back."

Gasped and shocked murmurs erupted from the crowd of SkyClan cats.

"StarClan help us!" Blossomfur yowled from near the nursery where she listened with the other queens. Her swollen belly proved that the young she-cat was indeed expecting. Darksky ran a soothing tail down the young queen's back to soothe her.

"The rats have been defeated on more than one occasion. It might take some time, but we will most likely be able to drive them out. At the moment, it seems as if they have no threat toward our Clan. Don't think that I am ignoring the problem, but at the moment, I see no need to risk lives unless they attack," Crescentstar meowed.

"If they attack us, lives will be destroyed! We should attack now and remind them who is boss! If we ignore them for the moment, we will be giving them time to prepare!" Mouseclaw yowled.

"Mouse-brain!" Sunblaze snarled at the tortoiseshell tom. "They're rats! Rats are prey!"

"All the more reason to attack them!" Bramblefrost piped up.

More conversations like these began to break out amongst the Clan until Crescentstar had decided she'd endured enough. "Enough!" Crescentstar yowled above the voices. "My decision remains as it is. On a happier note, one of our apprentices valiantly when off searching or our two missing warriors and found them," she meowed looking at Spiderpaw who sat toward the front.

Spottedfur let out a low hiss and Turtlestorm flattened his ears against his head. Spottedfur growled, "snake-hearted piece of—"

"SkyClan needs courageous cats like these, especially if in the near future we will fight the rats. Spiderpaw, I think you've waited long enough, please come forward," Crescentstar summoned with a flick of her tail. She padded down off Rockpile to greet the beaming apprentice.

She then rose her head to the heavens. "I, Crescentstar, leader of SkyClan call upon my warrior ancestors to look down upon this apprentice. He has trained hard to learn the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as warriors in their turn," she yowled. She looked down at Spiderpaw, narrowing her eyes. "Spiderpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and protect and defend this Clan even at the cost of your life?" she asked.

Spiderpaw looked up at her with wide amber eyes. "I do!" he replied hastily.

Crescentstar dipped her head. "Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name: Spiderpaw, from this moment on, you shall be known as Spiderstorm. StarClan honors your bravery and strength, and we welcome you as a full warrior of SkyClan."

Swiftleaf joined in with the rest of the Clan as they chanted Spiderstorm's new name. All but Spottedfur and Turtlestorm joined in.

"And in the tradition of our ancestors, Spiderstorm will guard the camp tonight alone as his vigil while the rest of the Clan sleeps," Crescentstar meowed and rested her muzzle on his head.

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><p>AN: Hope you enjoyed. R & R please! :D


	6. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors.**

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><p><strong>CHAPTER FIVE<strong>

Rain drummed on the roof of the warriors den. Turtlestorm lay at the entrance to the warriors' den. Spottedfur lay beside him, his tail wrapped up and around his nose. Turtlestorm's whiskers twitched in amusement at his brother's position. He looked out the den to see Spiderstorm standing before Rockpile, shaking his soaked black fur. Turtlestorm felt a rush of satisfaction flow through him as the newly-made warrior struggled out in the rain during his vigil. Because of the black-furred apprentice, Spottedfur and Turtlestorm, after much deliberation from Crescentstar and Stripeclaw, had been given their verdict: if they wanted to act like apprentices, they would be treated like so. The two young warriors were confined to camp for the next moon doing nothing but cleaning out dens and assisting Pawstep and Ravenclaw.

The Silverpelt wasn't visible underneath the rain clouds. The dark gray masses even blocked out the soothing silver shine of the moon. Turtlestorm's thick fur seemed to soak up some of the water outside even from though he was dry in the den. Resisting the urge to hiss, he rolled over and right into Waspwing.

Waspwing opened her eyes and hissed. "Keep to your own nest! I'm trying to sleep over here!" she snarled irritably. Her right eye had a scar that stretched from the top of her forehead to just below her eye.

"Sorry," Turtlestorm murmured his apology before rolling over back toward his brother. Spottedfur opened one of his blue eyes.

"Don't sweat it. She'll get over it," he whispered, his voice barely audible above the thrumming of the rain on the roof of the warriors' den.

Turtlestorm closed his eyes and tried to think of something peaceful or better yet nothing at all. No matter how hard he tried, he kept thinking of the rats, Blaze, the intruder, and the cat Spottedfur claimed to have seen in the forest while hunting. He also thought of his mother. She wondered if Swiftleaf were right that Aspenleaf had a much more intricate past than she was letting on. With StarClan's blessing, and after much willpower, sleep finally came over him and he slipped into darkness…

Turtlestorm woke from a dreamless sleep the night morning. It was still raining outside, but not as seriously as it had been the previous night. The drenched Spiderstorm lay some distance off, asleep from his long rainy vigil. Turtlestorm's lips curled back in a snarl. _He spends one night in the rain and now he's entitled to sleep all day._

Sunblaze padded up toward the den entrance, his hackles raised at the new warrior. "He'll get the ground saturated in the den and then we'll all be sleeping in puddles," he muttered to Turtlestorm as he slipped out into the drizzle.

Turtlestorm heaved a heavy sigh. He hated rain. He hated water. He hated moisture. He knew that since this was his first day of his punishment, it wouldn't be wise to sleep, or pretend to sleep until sunhigh. He followed the senior warrior out of the den and down the rocky path.

"Lucky you," Bramblefrost sneered as he reached Rockpile where a few other warriors were gathering around Stripeclaw. "You get to stay in camp while we get to go on a hunting patrol. Hope you have fun cleaning out our dens!"

"At least we'll be dry doing it!" Turtlestorm snarled back at the other warrior. "Besides, I'm not here for your company, Bramblefrost. I'm here to see Pawstep." With that, he slipped past his father and the rest of the cats and into the medicine cat den.

Spottedfur was already there, speaking with Ravenclaw. When Turtlestorm entered, Ravenclaw looked up, his left eye clamped shut. Turtlestorm remembered the story Aspenleaf told him and his littermates when they still slept in the nursery. She always said that Ravenclaw used to be a warrior and while he was an apprentice, he lost his eye battling rogues. He was made into a warrior, but was unhappy with the arrangement. His mother had been a medicine cat, and he decided that he would follow in her paw-steps.

"Good, you're here," Ravenclaw purred. "For a while, I thought I might have to send Spottedfur back up there to wake you. Have a nice rest?"

Turtlestorm ignored the older cat's jeering tone. "It was wonderful until my fur began soaking up the rain."

Ravenclaw let out an amused _mrrow_ of laughter. "I feel for you, young warrior," he sympathized looking at Turtlestorm's long, flowing black pelt. "I moved Blaze up a nest, so you can start cleaning out that one, and lying fresh moss down. After that, you can get Pawstep's nest and my own. Tell me once you're done with that and I'll tell you more."

Spottedfur sighed and padded off to the back of the den. Turtlestorm followed his brother, heaving another sigh. For the first time, he saw Blaze awake. The tomcat lay in his nest, licking his forepaw. He stopped when the two brothers approached and put his paw down before narrowing his eyes. "Why are you two here?"

"To clean out your nest, you ungrateful bone-bag!" Spottedfur snapped.

"Spottedfur!" Ravenclaw's warning hiss came from the den entrance. Turtlestorm cast a look over his shoulder. The black-furred medicine cat seemed to be counting, and sorting herbs.

A low growl erupted from Spottedfur's throat, but Turtlestorm shot him a disapproving look. "Spottedfur, we're in enough trouble as it is."

"I'm not the one that's jumping on everyone's tail," Spottedfur muttered angrily and began separating the soiled moss from the dry.

"I'll go collect more moss," Turtlestorm meowed.

Spottedfur gave his brother curt nod. Turtlestorm turned and padded up to the den entrance. Ravenclaw glanced up briefly from his work. "I'm going to get fresh moss," Turtlestorm explained.

Ravenclaw nodded and flicked his tail for Turtlestorm to leave. The younger black tom slipped past the medicine cat apprentice and into the SkyClan camp. It was still only drizzling outside, but it was still enough to make Turtlestorm shiver as his pelt soaked up more water still.

"Turtlestorm!" a voice hailed him as he padded away from Rockpile and past the leaders den toward the Whispering Cave. Turtlestorm turned to see his leader, Crescentstar, padding up to him. "Where are you going?" she asked, her eyes narrowed slightly.

"To… collect fresh moss from the… Whispering Cave…" Turtlestorm mewed, his nervousness evident in his voice. _Mouse-dung! Why did I have to stutter? She won't believe me now._

But to his surprise, Crescentstar dipped her head in submission to the younger cat's words. "Very well. I'll send a patrol with you," she replied, with a hint of weariness in her voice. She turned away from him and let her eyes wander the camp. "Aspenleaf!" she called as the light brown tabby she-cat padded down from the path that led up to the warriors' den.

The younger she-cat looked to her leader and pricked her ears forward, as if straining to hear her leader's words. "Find and bring Icepool and Frecklepaw here," Crescentstar called.

Aspenleaf dipped her heard and bounded back up the slippery path. Aspenleaf misplaced one paw and lost her footing. Turtlestorm's stomach lurched as he saw his mother slip near the elders' den. Aspenleaf yowled in surprise and tumbled off the path down to the rocks below that constructed the leader's den.

Turtlestorm gasped. "NO!" he yowled and pelted forward, not sure of what he would do. Panic took him, making him skid to a halt in front of Crescentstar's den. Aspenleaf had twisted in the air in an effort to land on her paws but the rocks below were uneven and sharp in some places.

"ASPENLEAF!" his father's yowl came from the other side of camp as her mate finally saw what happened. Turtlestorm took his eyes off his mother to his Stripeclaw haring over. The SkyClan deputy shoved his son out of the way just in time to see his mate hit the rocks with a thud, and a deafening crack.

Turtlestorm stared at his mother's lifeless body on the rocks. Stripeclaw let out a terrified yowl and leapt up onto the rocks. Crescentstar shouldered past Turtlestorm and followed her deputy onto the rocks. Turtlestorm looked around for his littermates to see Ravenclaw and Spottedfur emerging from the medicine cat's den. A few warriors—Swiftleaf, Spiderstorm, Icepool and Vineclaw—came out of the warriors' den and skidded down the slippery path.

Ravenclaw bounded up to the leader's den and jumped onto the rocks. "Out of my way!" he hissed at Stripeclaw.

"Is she… dead?" Stripeclaw asked, his cracking voice betraying his pain.

Ravenclaw's paws moved over his mother's body almost in a blur looking for injuries. Ravenclaw bent his head and pressed his ear to Aspenleaf's flank. The black-furred medicine cat's head jerked back up. "Yes, but barely."

A sigh of loud sigh of relief came from the crowd of cats now surrounding the leader's den. It was as if all the cats had been holding their breath awaiting Ravenclaw's diagnosis. Spottedfur and Swiftleaf shoved their way through the crowd to their brother.

"What in the name of StarClan happened?" Swiftleaf demanded, her voice sounding stricken.

"She was running up the path to the warriors' den to get Icepool to go on a patrol to the Whispering Cave when she slipped near the elders' den and fell off down onto the leader's den," Turtlestorm explained in a whisper, his voice barely audible above the murmurings of the crowd.

Ravenclaw looked around, "Badgerleg!" he called to the strong warrior. "Help me." The pale gray tomcat ran forward. Stripeclaw and Ravenclaw helped slide Aspenleaf's seemingly lifeless body onto the tom's shoulders. Turtlestorm let out another sigh of relief when he saw the faint rise and fall of his mother's flanks.

The three cats went to the medicine cat's den. "Where the Dark Forest is Pawstep?" Spottedfur asked in a snarl. "She's the real medicine cat. Ravenclaw's more of a medicine cat than she is!"

"Keep your voice down!" Swiftleaf hissed. "She's still a medicine cat! She's shared tongues with StarClan! Besides, she's probably going to retire to the elders' den soon. She's served the Clan for many moons."

"None of that matters if she isn't here when my mother nearly dies!" Spottedfur snapped back. "I don't give two moue tails if she's the best medicine cat ever, she's nothing to me when she doesn't help Aspenleaf!"

"She doesn't now, Spottedfur. She's not here. Why the Dark Forest are you so angry all the time?" Swiftleaf demanded. "Ever since you came back from your little escapade in the night, you've been acting like this. Did something happen out there you aren't telling me?"

Spottedfur's lips curled back in a snarl. "I don't have to justify myself to you!" he growled before whipping around and stalking off across the clearing.

Swiftleaf and Turtlestorm stood alone, staring after their brother. Swiftleaf looked as if she'd been stunned. Turtlestorm wrapped his tail around her back. He was soaked, but no more than she was. "He's grieving. Give him time. You know how Spottedfur is. He thinks he can change the world, and if he can't stop one little thing, he has major, psycho, senior warrior moment," Turtlestorm teased.

A small, amused purr came from his sister's throat, but it was very reserved. "I hope she's alright."

"She will be," Turtlestorm meowed. "She has to be."

After a day or anxiously awaiting news of their mother, and cleaning out nests, Turtlestorm and Spottedfur were ready to collapse from exhaustion when Stripeclaw emerged from the medicine cat den, his face just as stricken as his daughter's earlier that day. The rain had ceased, but clouds still cluttered the sky, blocking out the warmth of the sun. The two brothers pelted up to their father, who refused to meet their gazes.

"So?" Spottedfur demanded after a few moments of silence.

"She's alive—"

"That's great!" Spottedfur interrupted.

"Shh!" Turtlestorm hissed at his brother to silence him, then looked at his father to go on.

Stripeclaw gave Turtlestorm a nod. "She's alive, but Pawstep and Ravenclaw believe that she's broken her spine and she won't be able to walk again. She has no choice but to retire to the elders' den as soon as Pawstep and Ravenclaw say it's okay… but they fear that she might die, not from the seriousness of the injuries, but of what made happen. If there's fluid buildup in her lungs, she could die. The main thing is to try to keep her moving. She can more her forepaws, but not far below that."

Turtlestorm listened to his father speak in shocked silence. His mother would never walk again. As the intensity of the situation set in, fear clawed at his belly. She could die if her lungs filled with fluid. Their mother was in life-threatening danger. Stripeclaw looked at Turtlestorm, then at Spottedfur, and then back again. "I have to report to Crescentstar. Marshpaw will be needing a new mentor." With that, the SkyClan deputy turned away from his sons and padded toward Crescentstar's den. The cream-colored leader sat at the entrance to her den, her eyes fixed on the wet ground around her.

Thunder boomed, and lightning cracked in the sky. The white zigzagged bolt projected out of the sky but didn't reach the ground before disappearing once more. Turtlestorm watched the dark sky, his mood somber. He dreaded telling Swiftleaf the news. Spottedfur, as if he could read his brother's thoughts flicked his tail. "So, who's gonna tell our charming sister the news?" Spottedfur asked, in jest, but his tone wasn't playful as it usually was when he joked.

"I don't know," Turtlestorm meowed. "I suppose we both should."

Spottedfur let out a small sigh. "I was worried you'd say that."

Turtlestorm was so absorbed in his own thoughts he didn't notice Darksky pad up to the two toms. "Well?" She asked, snapping Turtlestorm out of his pessimistic thoughts of his mother dying. "How is she?"

Spottedfur explained while Turtlestorm searched the queen's face. Darksky's jaws dropped when Spottedfur announced that Aspenleaf would never walk again.

"Oh, StarClan no!" Darksky cried. "This is dreadful! That poor thing," she mewed. "Excuse me," she pardoned and bounded past them to the medicine cat den and slipped in.

Spottedfur sighed and looked at his paws. "I'm gonna go get Swiftleaf… Are you gonna be okay?" he asked looking at Turtlestorm warily.

Turtlestorm nodded. "Okay? Our mother could die, and you expect me to be okay?" Turtlestorm asked, trying to sound angry, but his voice only came out in a tortured whisper.

"I know. I feel the same way. I have to tell Swiftleaf," he mewed and licked his brother's ear. "You don't have to come… I think I can do it on my own."

"How noble of you," Turtlestorm commented. "Senior warrior moment?" he tried to tease, but his voice sounded dull and listless.

Spottedfur produced a purr but with much effort. He licked his brother's ear again and padded slowly up the path to the warriors' den where Swiftleaf had fled after the accident. Turtlestorm sat in the middle of camp, rooted to the spot. All the thoughts he'd had earlier about the rats, the intruder, Blaze, and the mysterious she-cat Spottedfur had encountered didn't seem to matter. Waking up that morning, and facing the rain seemed like such a little and petty challenge compared to what his mother would go through. _I'm worried about going out in the rain and getting my pelt wet and my mother's paralyzed,_ he thought sadly. Entering the medicine cat's den and cleaning out Blaze's nest seemed like a distant memory now.

Thunder roared once more and the wind picked up. "A storm's brewing," Spiderstorm commented. Turtlestorm jumped. The young warrior sat beside him. Turtlestorm never even heard him approach. _Wow. I must be really absorbed._

"Yep. It's gonna be big," Turtlestorm half sighed.

Spiderstorm looked at the older black-furred warrior. "Look, Turtlestorm… I'm sorry about your mother… and I'm also sorry I got you in trouble… You know it was only because I was jealous… I should've been made a warrior with you and your littermates—"

"You know what, Spiderstorm?" Turtlestorm cut him off. "I have bigger worries, than as to why you were being such a fox-heart yesterday, and all those other days. I could care less about what you think, about how jealous you were, or about your feelings now. I don't need your sympathy. I don't need your apology. I don't need your friendship. I don't need you. So stay away from me, and I won't claw your ears off!"

Without another word, Turtlestorm rose to his paws and padded toward the fresh-kill pile. The closer he got the hot scent of fresh prey, the more his mouth watered, and stomach growled. He was famished. He hadn't eaten anything all day. He picked out a magpie from the pile and decided to bring it to the elders' den.

He stared up at the high path that led up the gorge wall. He gulped. He never truly noticed how intimidating the climb was until he saw someone fall. Picking his way up the slippery path carefully, he made it to the elders' den and slipped in. Darrin lay toward the entrance with Candy beside him. Jaguarclaw and Faithfulheart were farther back in the rocky den sharing tongues, while Whitefur slept.

"Here," Turtlestorm mewed setting the magpie down.

"Thank you, Turtlestorm," Candy purred. "I'm sorry about your mother."

Turtlestorm muttered his thanks and turned to leave the den when Crescentstar's yowl rung out through camp. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here beneath Rockpile for a Clan meeting!"

Letting out a sigh, Turtlestorm slowly descended the path. He saw many of the cats, his father included, already sitting before Rockpile. He picked out Swiftleaf's and Spottedfur's distinctive pelts in the mass. When he finally got to the bottom of the gorge, the elders sliding behind him, he bounded over to his littermates.

Once all the cats were settled, Crescentstar sat on Rockpile and curled her tail around her paws. "I'm sure you all know what happened earlier today," she meowed, her voice weary and strange. She didn't sound like the normal SkyClan leader. She sounded older, and tired. "Aspenleaf will never walk again. Once Ravenclaw believes she is strong enough, she will move the elders' den."

Turtlestorm shot a glance at his father. Stripeclaw also seemed older. Turtlestorm noticed how older his father was growing. The fur around his muzzle was faintly graying, and his eyes were dull, and agonized.

"In other news, Aspenleaf's apprentice, Marshpaw will be needing a new mentor. She still has not gone through eight moons of training. Airtail, you are a brave, and strong warrior. You have mentored many great warriors, and I wish for you to take on Marshpaw's training," Crescentstar meowed.

Airtail dipped her light gray head and padded over to touch noses with Marshpaw. The dark mottled brown tom looked just as depressed as Stripeclaw as he touched noses with the older she-cat.

"Also, we have another member of the Clan moving to the elders' den. Pawstep, will you come forward?" Crescentstar asked leaping down gracefully from Rockpile. The old pinkish-brown she-cat came forward. Turtlestorm realized how old that she, too, was looking. He also remembered that Ravenclaw would oversee his mother's health now.

"Pawstep, is it your wish to give up the name of a medicine cat and go to join the elders?" Crescentstar inquired, her blue eyes gentle.

Pawstep dipped her head. "It is."

Crescentstar dipped her head as well. "Very well. Your Clan honors you, and all the service you have given us. I call upon StarClan to give you many seasons of rest," she meowed and rested her muzzle on the younger she-cats head. Crescentstar was older than Pawstep, she was probably the oldest cat in the entire Clan, but her nine lives gave her the energy and appearance of a young warrior.

Pawstep licked her leader's flank in thanks and turned and retreated back to where the elders sat. Candy touched noses with her daughter in welcome and the elders fussed over the younger cat.

Turtlestorm's whiskers twitched in amusement. Crescentstar let out a small sigh before dismissing the Clan and retreating to his den. Turtlestorm turned away, without even speaking to his siblings and went up the path to the warriors' den.

"Turtlestorm, don't you want to see Aspenleaf?" Swiftleaf called from the bottom of the path, but Turtlestorm ignored her. He didn't want to see his mother lying in a nest, possibly on her deathbed. He didn't want to see his mother paralyzed with limp back legs. He wanted to sleep and pretend that it was all a nightmare that he would wake up from, but he knew that was impossible.

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><p>AN: Thanks for reading! R & R please!


	7. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors.**

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><p><strong>CHAPTER SIX<strong>

A moon had passed since Aspenleaf's accident and the brave SkyClan warrior was somehow still clinging to life. Ravenclaw suspected that she would be able to move to the elders' den soon. Stripeclaw had become distinctively depressed without his mate by his side. Spottedfur overheard his father talking with Breezemoon, and Badgerleg about retiring himself.

Spottedfur let out a sigh as he watched the sun rise. After two whole weeks of rain, every morning with a rising sun, and minimal cloud cover was extremely welcome. The sun rose with a beautiful conflagration of pinks, yellows, and oranges. At that moment, for the first time in a moon, Spottedfur felt at peace. The tranquility of a sunrise always seemed to have a calming effect on him, but this particular one made him sigh with contentment and happiness.

Rising to his paws, he jumped lightly, and nimbly over his brother who slept in the nest beside him, and slipped out of the warriors' den. He descended down the rocky path that led to the bottom of the gorge. He decided to go to the medicine cat den and see if Aspenleaf was awake. As he neared Rockpile, where the medicine cat den was, he heard voices speaking behind Rockpile.

"Ravenclaw, I think we need to consider this," Darksky's voice came from behind the den. Spottedfur was careful to sneak toward the voices without being seen. His gray fur acted in his favor as he struggled to blend in to the rocks.

"Darksky," the medicine cat replied, his voice highly disapproving. "Aspenleaf doesn't know what she's talking about. Do you know how many herbs she's been given in the past moon? It's probably getting to her head."

"But Stripeclaw said that when Blaze came, she asked him whether it was possible that he could've followed us," Darksky mewed. "You know as well as I do that it is possible. Fury could—"

"No, Darksky," Ravenclaw half growled, his voice powerful, and full of finalism. "Fury is probably dead out there somewhere, and if he is trying to get Aspenleaf back, I think he'll be pretty disappointed when he sees what's happened to her."

Darksky let out an exasperated sigh. "Don't you get it? Seeing her in that state might infuriate him! He might try to kill Stripeclaw again, believing it's his fault!"

"Darksky, that's absurd," Ravenclaw replied. "Stripeclaw has always been stronger than that bone-bag, and if he tries to attack SkyClan, he truly is badger-brained! Stop worrying about it!"

"Has StarClan spoken to you?" Darksky asked, her voice sounding strange, and reverent. Spottedfur remembered that Darksky's and Ravenclaw's mother had been a medicine cat. Darksky always had a deep reverence when speaking of their warrior ancestors.

Spottedfur pricked his ears and edged closer. Ravenclaw let out a sigh and looked up. He must've saw Spottedfur move. His eyes narrowed. "I think we should take this conversation to a more private location," he meowed and padded downstream along the river, flicking his tail for the brown tabby queen to follow him.

As the two littermates padded off, Spottedfur let out an annoyed hiss. "Mouse-dung!" he cursed and padded back to the medicine cat den, angrily. He blew it, if he hadn't been so stupid, he might've heard Ravenclaw's reply. He went back to the medicine cat den, and slipped in. Blaze was sitting up in his nest, licking his forepaw. Aspenleaf lay beside him, chatting away. The ginger tom looked annoyed.

"Aspenleaf," Spottedfur meowed as he padded toward his mother.

Aspenleaf looked up at her son and purred. "Spottedfur," she purred, pleased to see him. "It's wonderful to see you. How are you?"

"Aspenleaf, I overheard Ravenclaw and Darksky talking, who is Fury?" Spottedfur demanded, not wanting to waste any time.

Blaze looked up from his grooming, his green eyes widening slightly. Spottedfur shot a confused glance at the ginger tomcat, but he quickly returned to his nonchalant grooming. Aspenleaf, herself, looked bewildered. "I… I haven't the faintest idea what you're talking about."

"Don't lie to me!" Spottedfur half snarled. "I heard Ravenclaw and Darksky talking about him! Who is he, and why would he want to hurt Stripeclaw?"

Aspenleaf looked away from her son and the loner. She stared at the rocky den wall, her eyes misted with what could be nostalgia. "That is none of your business. It is between your father and I, and Darksky and Ravenclaw, but only because they were there. It does not concern you."

Spottedfur flexed his claws hotly. He'd been on edge like this ever since Aspenleaf's accident. He blamed her for the accident. If she hadn't been so careless, she wouldn't be lying in a nest paralyzed. Thinking about his mother dying was not a comforting thought. His father had slipped into a depression, and his sister barely talked to him or his brother anymore, trying to focus on her warrior duties. Turtlestorm blamed himself for his mother's accident, though it wasn't his fault. Spottedfur was furious that his mother laid back and let her son take the blame.

"It _is_ my business!" he snapped. "I, as well as Swiftleaf and Turtlestorm, deserve to know about your past!"

Aspenleaf bared her teeth at the young gray tomcat. "The past is in the past! There's nothing you can do about it, so why dwell on such undesirable memories?" she demanded. "I don't want to talk about it, and that's final! If hear that you've asked anyone else about it, I'll claw you myself!"

"How?" Spottedfur shot back. "You can barely walk! You have drag yourself everywhere!" he growled and turned around before pelting out of the medicine cat den. The only thing that he could think of was to find Turtlestorm, and tell his brother about what he had. _I should probably tell Swiftleaf as well. She was the one who had took the interest in our mother's past. Maybe she'll be able to get it out of her…_ he thought hopefully.

Bounding up the path, past the nursery and the elders' den, he finally got the warriors' den and ducked in. Many cats were still asleep. Stripeclaw's nest was empty, along with most of the senior warriors' nests. Confused, he prodded his brother in the side with his paw. Turtlestorm blinked open his eyes and looked up at his brother. "What?" he groaned.

"Come on," Spottedfur whispered and prodded his sister as well.

Swiftleaf blinked open her eyes and glared at him. "What now?" she half snarled. "Another scent to investigate?"

Spottedfur resisted the urge to rake his claws across her cream face. "Come on, there's something I have to tell you," he whispered to her.

Swiftleaf narrowed her blue and green eyes and rose to her paws. She followed him as Spottedfur led the way out of the den. "Where to?" Turtlestorm asked, suppressing a yawn.

"The maple copse?" Spottedfur suggested.

"Great, the same place where you two decided to go off on your own, and nearly got killed," Swiftleaf muttered. "What is this about anyway?"

"You'll see, but we can't talk here," Spottedfur replied.

Swiftleaf let out an annoyed hiss. Spottedfur led the way to the maple copse with Turtlestorm padding beside him. He glanced over his shoulder periodically to make sure Swiftleaf was following. She would trudge several tail-lengths behind, looking irritated with Spottedfur's secrecy. When they reached the edge of the maple copse, Spottedfur let out an excited purr, some of his excitement, and carefree attitude he felt before his mother's accident returning slowly.

"Well?" Swiftleaf demanded, annoyance prickling in her voice.

"You two won't believe what I heard," he mewed.

"Yes, and we'll never know until you spit it out!" Swiftleaf snarled grumpily. Spottedfur made a metal note never to wake her up early again.

Spottedfur wanted to claw his sister's ears off, but restrained himself from doing so. After he was sure a harsh retort wouldn't explode from his mouth if he opened it, he explained in detail what he had heard Ravenclaw and Darksky talking about. He also told them about Aspenleaf's defensiveness.

Swiftleaf listened with wide eyes. "So she is hiding something!" she purred in approval.

Turtlestorm lashed his thick-furred tail in annoyance. "That doesn't prove anything, Swiftleaf!" he said disapprovingly. "It's _her_ life and we really have no right to intrude. She has every right to be defensive if she had a troubled past."

"Yes, but at the same time she could be hiding something. Why else would she snap at Spottedfur so harshly?" Swiftleaf inquired.

Spottedfur looked at his paws. He forgot to mention that he had been a bit… brusque to his mother. "Unless she was angry that Ravenclaw and Darksky were talking about it in the open," he offered. Once he said it, he realized that it was a very valid conception.

Turtlestorm looked thoughtful as he mulled over his brother's words. "Hmm… maybe… Do you think this Fury cat has anything to do with Blaze's appearance and that she-cat you met in the woods?"

Swiftleaf flattened her ears against her head. "If this Fury cat is trying to get revenge on Stripeclaw for stealing Aspenleaf, maybe he's making some sort of fighting force. Blaze said himself that he disagreed with an idea, so his own brothers chased him off."

Spottedfur thought harder. He remembered Blaze's shocked expression when he confronted his mother about Fury. _Maybe Fury is with those strange cats… Is that why Blaze was so shocked when I asked her of it? Or maybe he was just a little shocked at how I treated my own mother… Great StarClan I wish I could tell her I was sorry,_ Spottedfur thought to himself.

Turtlestorm let out a startled hiss, breaking Spottedfur's train of thought. He looked at his brother, his blue eyes wide with confusion. Swiftleaf's hackles were also raised. It was only then that Spottedfur smelt what was making his littermates so on edge—it was cat's scent, similar to the scent Turtlestorm had picked up the night they met the rats.

"Show yourself!" Turtlestorm snarled, facing the maple copse.

There was a soft growling from up in a large maple tree. Spottedfur looked up to see a pair of glowing green eyes glaring down at him from a high tree branch. "Up there!" Spottedfur alerted his littermates.

"Come down here, now!" Turtlestorm snarled.

"Should I go get some other warriors?" Swiftleaf asked, her voice wavering unsteadily.

"It's one cat, Swiftleaf," Spottedfur hissed at his sister. "We can take it!"

"We won't harm you. We just want to talk," Turtlestorm called up to the cat. Spottedfur's lips curled back in a snarl.

"No promises," he muttered to himself.

"How can I be sure?" a she-cat's voice called back down from the tree. "How do I know you're not like those other cats—he ones that chased me this way?"

"Other cats?" Turtlestorm called up. "We won't chase you! We promise. We want to know about these other cats."

The green eyes narrowed, but finally a lithe ginger she-cat shimmied down the tree trunk to the three Clan cats. She wore a green strap around her neck that matched her eyes. "Who are you three, anyway?" she asked, her voice thick with mistrust.

"My name is Turtlestorm, and this is my sister, Swiftleaf, and my brother Spottedfur," he meowed flicking his tail to his to littermates when he spoke their names. Spottedfur flexed his claws, still not sure if they should trust the she-cat. "What is your name?"

"My name is Mabel. I live in one of the wooden dens over there," she meowed flicking her tail toward the Twolegplace. "My can-opener lets me outside during the day when it leaves. I wander around the town and sometimes come into the forest like today."

"Can-opener?" Spottedfur spat. "What in the name of StarClan is that?"

"What the heck is a StarClan?" Mabel shot back.

"Spottedfur, shut up!" Swiftleaf hissed at her brother. "What is a can-opener?" she asked, facing Mabel, her voice surprisingly calm, in contrast to how it sounded seconds before.

Mabel glared. "It's. A. Can. Opener. It's the one that gives me food—it opens the cans that have the good tasty fish inside so I can eat," she said longingly.

"Oh, you mean a Twoleg?" Turtlestorm guessed.

"They do walk on two legs, yes," Mabel mewed thoughtfully. "I was further down," she meowed flicking her tail toward the old barn. "I was visiting my friend Wanda. I took the long way home, through the forest and past this old barn," she explained.

Spottedfur shivered remembering the stench of rats, and how the giant black mass overflowed from the wooden walls of the construction.

"I came upon this tunnel," Mabel continued. "I called down into it. It smelled of cats, but I didn't recognize the scent. It smelled of earth, and it was musty… almost like a cat that hasn't been out in the open breeze for a while," she described. As Spottedfur listened, he knew the scent—it was the scent that they followed that night. The cat must have snuck past the old barn and gone into the tunnels… but why would it come to the SkyClan camp, then turn around and leave?

"What happened then?" Turtlestorm pressed.

"There was some scuffling coming from the hole, and then I heard a bunch of paw-steps thundering up toward me from down in the tunnel, then someone yowled 'intruder!' and I ran for this clump of trees.

"They chased me as far as the old barn, then they went back to their tunnel. I thought they were still following so I ran up this tree… It happened yesterday evening," Mabel explained.

"So you've been up in that tree all night?" Spottedfur asked indignantly.

Mabel nodded. "I was afraid that if I came down, they would spot me again."

"Mabel, I think you should come with us," Turtlestorm suggested.

Mabel's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Why?" she asked dubiously. "Are you going to take me to them?" she half yowled, her claws unsheathing and her hackles rising at the thought.

"No! No," Turtlestorm meowed, sounding bewildered by her intense accusation. "I think you should tell your story to our Clan leader. Her name is Crescentstar, and I'm sure she'll want to hear your story. Our camp is nearby, and she'll want to keep it safe from the tunnel cats. As long as you're with us, you'll have nothing to fear… Plus, there will be food there," Turtlestorm added the last part seeing that she was still unsure.

Mabel's eyes brightened at this. "Real prey?" she asked, astonished as if she'd never heard of such a thing.

"Yes," Swiftleaf replied before Turtlestorm could. "Fresh mice and birds, they really are delicious," she tried to persuade.

Mabel licked her lips. "I haven't had fresh-kill for so long… I used to hunt mice when I came to the forest, but I stopped after so long after I got sick from eating a decaying crow. My can-opener took me to this horrible place, we cats call the Cutter. Many of the toms go there, and come back… different. But the Cutter made me better."

"Will you come back with us?" Spottedfur snapped, his voice unnaturally edgy. He sighed. His voice had sounded like that for a moon now. Did Aspenleaf have any idea what her accident did to him? He wished he could be carefree again, and not uptight and scornful like Wolfpelt.

Mabel thought a moment longer before nodding. "Very well. I think it would be best," she meowed.

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><p>AN: Thanks for reading Tell me what you think! It's really easy. There's a button right below this that says "Review Chapter" click on it and type me a response! I love your comments and constructive criticism. :)


	8. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors!**

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><p><strong>CHAPTER SEVEN<strong>

Swiftleaf followed at the rear as Turtlestorm led Mabel back to camp. Spottedfur padded in front of Swiftleaf, his head hung low. _What's getting into him?_ Swiftleaf wondered silently. She knew that her brother hadn't been the same since their mother's accident—she hadn't been either. She'd focused on her warrior duties as much as possible. _My mother is a brilliant warrior that would risk anything for her Clan. I bet she would give anything to be able to walk, and provide for the Clan. Maybe I can do her share too._

"We're nearly there," Turtlestorm called over his shoulder to the rest of his party. Mabel's ears pricked up at his words, and then flattened back against her head. Her lips curled back in a small snarl as the scent of SkyClan flooded over the group.

Swiftleaf took a deep breath as they approached the warriors' den. She knew that they would have to be on top of the den before any warrior noticed them since the wind was blowing in their direction, wafting the scent toward them.

Just as they were little more than two tail-lengths close to the warriors' den, a ginger head emerged from the den. Her right eye was scarred from a training accident. Swiftleaf saw her brother tense as he saw Waspwing. It took everything Swiftleaf had to not purr in amusement at her brother.

Waspwing's hackles rose when she saw Mabel. "Who is she?" she hissed, lashing her tail.

Mabel let out a weak growl in response, but Swiftleaf could smell the kittypet's fear scent. "We found her at the maple copse," Swiftleaf called up. She padded past Spottedfur who shot her a quizzical look. Turtlestorm had been the voice of the trio for most of the day, but Swiftleaf decided that it was her turn.

"We thought it would be best if she spoke to Crescentstar. She had an… intriguing encounter with other cats I think she should tell our leader about," Turtlestorm meowed to the she-cat.

Waspwing nodded. "I'll get Stripeclaw. Take her down to Crescentstar's den," Waspwing meowed before turning back into the warriors' den to get the deputy. Turtlestorm led the wary kittypet down into the gorge as Spottedfur and Swiftleaf followed.

"What was that about?" Spottedfur asked her as they walked beside one another.

"What do you mean?" Swiftleaf inquired, glancing at her brother, her tail twitching in annoyance. Spottedfur was so different now, it scared her. _I suppose he's grieving. We're all still adjusting, and we've all been on edge,_ she reasoned silently.

"Why did you take Turtlestorm's lines up there?" he asked.

"Why do you ask? I was a part of the group that found her, I'm aloud to speak about it. Turtlestorm spoke for us when we met her anyway," Swiftleaf half hissed. "Besides, Turtlestorm isn't Clan leader. He's just a warrior."

"Yeah, and so are you," Spottedfur shot back. "I was just wondering. You never talk to us that much anymore anyway," he growled softly to her.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she growled back.

"The point is, we're all still getting over what happened to Aspenleaf, but secluding yourself from your family is not the answer!" Spottedfur meowed.

"Then what is? What am I supposed to do about it? Our mother would probably give anything to be a warrior again! I'm trying to pick up the slack she left behind. I'm trying to take her place in the Clan!" Swiftleaf explained. She didn't understand why her brother wasn't seeing what she was trying to do. _Why can't he just let me do my own thing? My actions are none of his concern!_

"It's not worth it, Swiftleaf," he pressed. "You can't take Aspenleaf's place. No one can. You can try all you want to catch twice as much prey, and go on as many patrols as you can, but you can't be our mother! You can't be what Aspenleaf was to our father!"  
>Swiftleaf flattened her ears against her head. She knew that she would never be able to truly fill the void of Aspenleaf's absence, especially for Stripeclaw. <em>"It's not worth it, Swiftleaf!"<em> A growl rose in Swiftleaf's throat.

The finally reached the bottom of the gorge. Ravenclaw came out of the medicine cat's den with Crescentstar beside him. Ravenclaw cast an unsure glance at Spottedfur before looking at Mabel.

"Who is she?" Crescentstar inquired, looking at the kittypet with narrowed eyes.

"Her name is Mabel. We found her at the maple copse, up in a tree. She had been chased there by these strange cats," Turtlestorm explained.

"What cats?" an anxious voice called from behind Swiftleaf. She glanced over her shoulder to see Waspwing and Stripeclaw just reaching the foot of the path. Stripeclaw bounded up. "What cats?" he asked again.

Crescentstar looked at Swiftleaf and her littermates. "Thank you for bringing her. Mabel, Stripeclaw, and Ravenclaw come with me to my den," she summoned the two cats.

Mabel cast a terrified glance at Turtlestorm before being led away by the SkyClan leader. The three littermates watched as the four cats approached Crescentstar's den.

"What strange cats chased her all the way to the maple copse?" Waspwing queried when they were far enough away. "Cats from the Twolegplace, surely wouldn't venture that far into the forest?" she mewed, but it sounded more like a question.

Turtlestorm's gaze flickered from his littermates to the ginger she-cat. Spottedfur and Swiftleaf both gave their brother an encouraging glance. Turtlestorm gulped. "A… apparently she'd been vi- visiting her friend and she came back… Uh… she found this… this tunnel… and… and these cats came out and chased her," Turtlestorm stuttered.

Swiftleaf let out a half amused, half ashamed sigh. He was so confident speaking with the Clan leader, the deputy, and an unknown she-cat, but when it came to Waspwing, he acted like a frightened kit.

Spottedfur twitched his whiskers in amusement, and shot a thoughtful glance at Swiftleaf, hearing her sigh. He nudged her flank with his muzzle and jerked his head toward the medicine cat den. Swiftleaf gave him a curt nod and followed her brother into the den, leaving Turtlestorm to face his love life alone.

Aspenleaf was lying in her nest, her ears strained toward the den entrance. When she saw her kits, she looked away, an agonized look in her eyes. Blaze sat in the nest next to her. "Where's that Ravenclaw fellow?" he asked as they approached.

"Speaking with Crescentstar," Swiftleaf replied. "We brought in a kittypet that had a run-in with rogues, I suspect."

Aspenleaf flattened her ears against her head. "I warned them," she whispered, barely audible. Swiftleaf heard, and narrowed her eyes. _Why is she being so secretive? What did she warn them of? Did she know about the tunnel cats?_ she wondered silently.

"What did you warn them of?" Swiftleaf asked.

Blaze looked from Swiftleaf to Aspenleaf, then back again. Aspenleaf looked up at her daughter. "The strange scents," Aspenleaf meowed. "I warned them that there were most likely more cats around."

Swiftleaf narrowed her eyes, unconvinced. She opened her jaws to say something else, but a yowl split the air making the cream-colored she-cat jump.

"GREAT STARCLAN NO!" Icepool's yowl echoed through the camp. Spottedfur and Swiftleaf both pelted out of the medicine cat den. Turtlestorm was already beside them. He appeared to have come from over by the fresh-kill pile.

Swiftleaf followed the sound of Icepool's yowls up the small path as her brother's pelted behind her, followed by Crescentstar and Stripeclaw. On Skyrock, just a few fox-lengths from the warriors' den, was Icepool staring in horror and a bloody lump of ginger fur. Swiftleaf skidded to a halt and stared in shock, as she realized, it wasn't just fur; it was a body. Waspwing lay dead just outside the SkyClan camp.

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><p>AN: Sorry for the shortness. Please R & R! :)


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